Do animals don’t dream when they hibernate? The short answer is, unfortunately, no. And that’s because hibernation isn’t the same as sleep.
Sleep is a more physiologically ‘active’ state. Hibernation, in contrast, requires animals (like this dormouse, above) to substantially reduce all activities to conserve energy.
Hibernating animals reduce their breathing rate, lower their body temperature and decrease their metabolic rate to around five per cent of their usual levels. There’s simply not enough brain activity while an animal is hibernating to enable dreaming.
There is one exception, however: the fat-tailed lemur. As the only primate to hibernate, scientists have observed them having periods of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.
This article is an answer to the question (asked by Jess Syrett, Torquay) 'Do animals dream when they hibernate?'
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